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Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

2nd s. of Francis Barnham, and bro. of Benedict. m. (1) a da. of Richard Patrick of London, 2s. 4da.; (2) 1592, Anne, da. of one Bowyer, wid. of William Dawkes, merchant, of London, ?s.p.1

Offices Held

J.p. Suss. from 1600.

Biography

Through his mother, Barnham was closely connected with Chichester, where her father, a mercer, had been mayor at least twice. One of her brothers, William Bradbridge, was chancellor of Chichester cathedral from 1562 until his appointment as bishop of Exeter in 1571. Another brother, Augustine—married to a daughter of Barlow, bishop of Chichester—was chancellor of the cathedral 1560-2 and of the diocese 1559-67, as well as treasurer of the cathedral 1562-7.

Barnham became free of the Drapers’ Company in 1572 and was residing in London, presumably following his father’s trade, at the time of his second marriage. In 1599 he bought for £1,250 the manor of Denne, Horsham, which in 1604 was, sold to Thomas Eversfield for £5,500. His seat at Chichester in the 1601 Parliament was doubtless due to the influence there of his mother’s family. He sat on at least one Commons committee (23 Nov.), dealing with a bill concerning a charitable bequest to Christ’s hospital, St. Thomas’s hospital and the Bridewell, perhaps because his father had left property to the first of these and been treasurer of the second. In 1602 he bought the manor of Ockley, Sussex, and in 1607, from Viscount Montagu, the manor of Bayham on the Kent-Sussex border. At the time of his death, which occurred on 1 Jan. 1608, he was living at Southover, near Lewes. By then he had already settled some of the property on his elder son Martin on the occasion of his marriage, and his London property on his own wife for life. In his will, dated November 1607, he appointed Martin his executor and residuary legatee, leaving him nearly all his lands, though he provided carefully for the widow and for his unmarried daughter Benedicta, whose dowry was not to be less than £1,000. The will was proved on 11 Feb. in the following year. Barnham was buried at Southover 18 Jan. 1608. His heir was then 22 years old.2